Jordan Times
Monday, June 6, 2004
Deputies endorse amendments on GST, Income Tax laws
AMMAN (Petra) — The Lower House of Parliament convened on Sunday for its first meeting of the extraordinary session, which is dedicated to discussing 64 temporary and draft laws.
Attended by Prime Minister Faisal Fayez and
Cabinet members, the meeting began by reading out the Royal Decree convening the
session, which will also discuss House bylaws and committee recommendations on
the government's action plan.
Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali delivered a speech in which he urged
cooperation between the House and the government.
The legislators discussed amendments to the General Sales Tax (GST) and Income
Tax laws for the year 2004. The amendments, which were finally endorsed by the
deputies, merge the two departments under one director general.
The MPs differed on the merger. While some saw it as affecting the independence
and effectiveness of each agency, others said the move would enhance the tax
collection process as the two departments will be using the same database.
Opponents also said the merger would ease the tax burden of high-income brackets
at the expense of limited-income citizens.
In his reply to the comments, Minister of Justice Salah Bashir rejected the
preposition that the unification of the tax collection agencies was “dictated
from external parties.” He stressed that the amendment was aimed at reforming
relevant legislation.
Bashir cited Article 120 of the Constitution, which authorises the Council of
Ministers, with the approval of the King, to handle administrative divisions,
the establishment of the government departments, “their classification,
designations, plan of operations and the manner of the appointment of civil
servants....”.
He also stressed that the change would not affect the taxation system, but
rather would enhance it.
The deputies agreed with the Senators, who endorsed the temporary Higher Media
Council Law No. 74 for the year 2001, including the amendments introduced by the
government. But they rejected the Higher Media Council Law No. 14 for the year
2003 on the basis that its provisions are embedded in the older law.
Debate over the law started afresh during Sunday's session of the Lower House,
which rejected the law during the ordinary session on grounds that financially
and administratively independent bodies are not under the control of the
government and the Lower House.
But Bashir said the budget of independent councils must be approved by the
Council of Ministers as part of the general state budget, adding that the
accounts of such bodies are regularly scrutinised by the Audit Bureau.
The Lower House also approved the Senate's endorsement of the amended law
governing taxes on real estate within municipalities, while the State Budget
Appendix for the year 2003 and the amended Education Law were referred to
concerned committees to study and make recommendations.